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Author
Topic: Cybercondriacs (Read 7578 times)

I stopped reading and commenting in the Research and Nutrition forums long ago. Simply suggesting "check with your doctor first" will get your head bit off. The cybercondriacs that populate the place want nothing to do with common sense. I could post in there and suggest my CD4 count went up because I wear an amulet of goat dung and 90% of the cybercondriacs would want to know where to get one. They would be googling "goat dung amulet" faster than you can say "goat dung amulet."It did get me thinking about the weird remedies I tried back in the good ol' days when black magic and AIDS went hand in hand. I was a macrobiotics freak for two years. Picking dandelion greens out of the back yard and learning how to stir brown rice in the right direction to balance my yin and yang. Got nothin' but a bad case of shingles. I quit when I read a book by Kushi (the macrobiotics guru) who stated he could cure homosexuality with a macrobiotic diet. Reiki, Chinese herbs, wheat grass the list goes on and on. I tried them all.So what weird "cures" did you old farts try? Ever stick a crystal (not the good kind) up your ass?

I used to "visualize" an army of CD4 cells attacking my HIV viruses. And then drifted off to sleep using healing meditation. I still have a copy of the cassette tape sold by those two guys who said they had cured themselves of HIV and ....then died. Will Garcia and George Melton. On the front of the cassette it says: HEALING MEDITATIONS emotional release crystal body clearing

I tried herbal cleansing stuff, which did a wonderful job of loosening my already squeamish bowels.

I drank kombucha tea, the thought of which now makes me gag.

I used to make spirulina shakes. Yep, they were green, gritty, smelled like the bottom of a fish tank and were supposed to contain all the goodies to keep me happy and healthy.

Like Joel, I also did the visualization thing. I used to have a cassette tape made by Louise Hay, (dare I mention her name) that I listened to that was supposed to help me visualize my "beautiful body" and restore its health.

Once, I did some experimental stuff made by a biochemist at NMSU, or who was once a student at NMSU. My friend, Cem, came up with the stuff and insisted that we both use it. It involved putting a dropper full of the liquid in a glass of filtered water (this was long before bottled water). I don't know what it was. It could have been the guy's urine for all I know.

This was back in the 80s and early 90s.

My doctor, back in 92 or 93, told me to take selenium supplements, because it "might do some good."

although I don't deny that they are posting facts from real research over there (so I read thru every so often ), their "enthusiasm" reminds me of how my mom spent yrs cuting out every AIDS article and mailing them to me - just in case I didn't hear the latest news and didn't know the cure was right around the corner. I told her that I actually go to "real" doctors and I'm sure that when there's a cure available I'll already know about, have taken it, and will give her a call. After nearly 2 decades, even she has grown weary of the articles about the "forth coming" cures and doesn't send me any of those articles anymore, bless her heart.

Now we're both just waiting for the norvir tablet to actually hit the market

I tried herbal cleansing stuff, which did a wonderful job of loosening my already squeamish bowels.

I drank kombucha tea, the thought of which now makes me gag.

I used to make spirulina shakes. Yep, they were green, gritty, smelled like the bottom of a fish tank and were supposed to contain all the goodies to keep me happy and healthy.

Like Joel, I also did the visualization thing. I used to have a cassette tape made by Louise Hay, (dare I mention her name) that I listened to that was supposed to help me visualize my "beautiful body" and restore its health.

Once, I did some experimental stuff made by a biochemist at NMSU, or who was once a student at NMSU. My friend, Cem, came up with the stuff and insisted that we both use it. It involved putting a dropper full of the liquid in a glass of filtered water (this was long before bottled water). I don't know what it was. It could have been the guy's urine for all I know.

This was back in the 80s and early 90s.

My doctor, back in 92 or 93, told me to take selenium supplements, because it "might do some good."

Oh, and Hal, I hear you about the cybercondriacs.

HUGS,

Mark

God I forgot all that stuff you just mentioned. I remember a group of us hired a "reiki master" to administer Reiki to my friend Roger who was in the hospital unconscious and about to die. For a $150 we snuck this hippie chick into his room. After she festooned it with incense, candles and crystals she began the process. Holding her hands over him she swore she found the bad ju-ju in his body and had replaced it with good ju-ju. I kept thinking if Roger wakes up he's gonna kick my ass. I guess desperate times required desperate measures. Oh and a few years later the hippie chick got busted trying to FedEx ecstasy into the country from Amsterdam. Reiki couldn't save her from five years in a federal pen.

I used to go to a traditional Chinese acupuncturist who would give me bags of herbs and stuff that I had to make a tea out of everyday. The shit stunk up my apartment and I could barely get it down. Plus he wouldn't tell me what was in it; something to do with my birthday and the planets ....

I know I shouldn't be posting in here, but I'm using my powers as a Mod...and then I'm going to leg it before I get into trouble.

Quote

I could post in there and suggest my CD4 count went up because I wear an amulet of goat dung and 90% of the cybercondriacs would want to know where to get one. They would be googling "goat dung amulet" faster than you can say "goat dung amulet."

Not only did this make me laugh but I thought I could be of help to you..you see I have goat dung coming out of my ears..alas, it did not cure me for I still have HIV, but, before you can say "Good boy Sam" I can whip you up a nice Goat Dung Pellet necklace, it may not cure you but it will keep away all those annoying undesirables...and for the price of a can of beer it can be yours...just say the word...

I know I shouldn't be posting in here, but I'm using my powers as a Mod...and then I'm going to leg it before I get into trouble.

Not only did this make me laugh but I thought I could be of help to you..you see I have goat dung coming out of my ears..alas, it did not cure me for I still have HIV, but, before you can say "Good boy Sam" I can whip you up a nice Goat Dung Pellet necklace, it may not cure you but it will keep away all those annoying undesirables...and for the price of a can of beer it can be yours...just say the word...

Let us not forget Active Lipid 721 (AL721), discovered by the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. You mixed lecithin with raw egg yolks and spread it on bread or drank it in juice. It was supposed to make cell membranes resistant to viral attacks.

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"No one will ever be free so long as there are pestilences."--Albert Camus, "The Plague"

"Mankind can never be free until the last brick in the last church falls on the head of the last priest."--Voltaire

Back in the 80's a friend who was not even poz put me in his car and took me to one of those Louise Hay things . All I can remember about it now was thinking if this is all ya got I'm gonna die for sure . I was pretty pissed about a 4 hour one way drive for that load of hooey .

Well, there was also the "bitter melon" craze. This relative of the Chinese cucumber was used to create retention enemas. You had to retain the liquid up your ass as long as possible.

Of course, the Chinese cucumber was also the main ingredient of the now-notorious Compound Q, about which books have been written. The blessed Martin Delaney (R.I.P.) and Project Inform conducted secret trials that resulted in some deaths.

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"No one will ever be free so long as there are pestilences."--Albert Camus, "The Plague"

"Mankind can never be free until the last brick in the last church falls on the head of the last priest."--Voltaire

That was where they drained your blood into a gizmo that heated it to some ungodly temperature that was supposed to kill off the virus.

I can't remember now whether he died before he could get it done or after having it done.

Oh, and speaking of early "miracle cures," remember the hoopla surrounding alpha interferon? It was supposed to be the answer. The answer to what, I don't know. I believe its now used to treat Hep C, though.

Yeah, I tried reiki also, when I was at this 12-step convention. One of the people attending was a reiki master, and the other three who helped him were students.

I can't forget the colon cleansing thing, that a group of people talked about at the the just-starting ASO, saying it would "flush Aids out of the system." And Mark mentioned Louise Hay; oh yes, I remember he books also, and I can't think of the title of the one I used to own.

Also there was a famous doctor named Bernie Segal, who treated cancer patients. It kind of went along with what Joel said, about the healthy cells blasting the HIV-infected ones. He claimed that's how many of his patients got rid of their cancer (but he also did go along with science, i.e. chemotherapy). I went to one of his seminars when he was in town, which the ASO paid for.

I had a shoebox full of supplements that were suggested to me by some crackpot health person, or whatever it was they called themselves. I started taking them when I was going through wasting, and they never helped, of course. Wow, what a time trip.

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I've never killed anyone, but I frequently get satisfaction reading the obituary notices.-Clarence Darrow

Dextran Sulfate - To get it, you sent $400 to some address in Japan. It turned out that dextran sulfate killed the HIV virus in the test tube, but not in the human body. I'm sure I wasted a few thousand dollars on that.

There was also a day-by-day meditation book out during that time. It was called "The Color of Light." I bought it, and read it every day. A few months ago, I was looking at my ASO's library, and saw a copy. I started looking through it, and it so reflected what was going on back then (constant death and illness, worrying about my own demise), that it didn't at all reflect what goes on now with HIV. Not that there's still not death. Well, you all know what I mean.

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I've never killed anyone, but I frequently get satisfaction reading the obituary notices.-Clarence Darrow

Ugh--HOW could I forget the support groups! ESPECIALLY the ones run by well meaining women who were moms or sisters of some guy who died years before and we were their defacto link to the departed. WOW what an interesting yet 'sick' time that was!

They used to have a mother's support group in this area, back in the day. But it was, as the name implies, a support group for moms whose sons or daughters were infected. They were a wonderful group. They used to help me out at Christmas, with a small cash donation, so I was able to buy my daughter presents. My mom belonged for awhile. I don't even know if the group still exists, as a few of the mothers have passed.

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I've never killed anyone, but I frequently get satisfaction reading the obituary notices.-Clarence Darrow

Support groups didn't work out well for me . I was 22 and only interested in talking to the cute guys who were more into the self help aspect of support . Like booze and drugs so we could forget our worries .

They used to have a mother's support group in this area, back in the day. But it was, as the name implies, a support group for moms whose sons or daughters were infected. They were a wonderful group. They used to help me out at Christmas, with a small cash donation, so I was able to buy my daughter presents. My mom belonged for awhile. I don't even know if the group still exists, as a few of the mothers have passed.

Sounds like something that may have been useful for those affected.

The groups I'm talking about were for HIV positive people but the 'facilitators' were moms working out their own issues on us. Like perhaps, they disowned Booby when he was alive because he was Gay and when he really needed help while dying from AIDS they were cold and distant. But to our 'benefit' they saw the light after poor Bobby's death and decided that all of pozzies just needed a bit more of momma-love and everything would be ok.

kind of co-dependant and sick.

I miss the support group members and I even miss the opportunity for support groups (they aren't supported where I live) but I don't miss the others working out thier issues at our expense.

But to our 'benefit' they saw the light after poor Bobby's death and decided that all of pozzies just needed a bit more of momma-love and everything would be ok.kind of co-dependant and sick.I miss the support group members and I even miss the opportunity for support groups (they aren't supported where I live) but I don't miss the others working out thier issues at our expense.

back in the day, there were a lot of well-meaning people working their personal issues out on people like us/me. for that very reason I spent about 12 years without much of any support except my straight friends until I found this site. I lived 550 miles from my family, so though they loved me, they weren't there as I buried my partner, struggled with the meds, and tried to keep the roof over my head. And to be really honest, what the hell did my friends know about HIV, heck they barely understood the issues I faced with just being gay; but they tried, bless their souls.

That's why, even with some of the problems that arise here once in a while, I know this site is a godsend for a lot of people living out in East Boofu where pozzies and suppport groups are few and far between.

I just never tried "odd" treatments. Crushing up those huge videx tabs, chugging down bottles of liquid Kaletra or liquid Norvir, AZT every 4hrs, and nearly being ODed on those huge Sustiva capsules as the doctors "practiced" medicine on me - those were the weird treatments I dealt with. Often I thought that I should give meditation or some Chinese herbs a try, instead I'd usually just quit whatever med was killing me. After that I'd keep reading about all the other alternatives people were trying (I kept thinking I might have to figure out how to get to Mexico for those "lipid" thingies) and hope for some good news, while waiting for the inevitable to catch up to me.

Oh gee... how did I miss this thread? I went through so many expensive fads in the early 90's with this stuff it made my head spin, and it started immediately when diagnosed even though my sub-200 numbers gave me no time to ponder taking AZT.

The first thing I did was hook up with some pseudo-HIV guru who also was once the DJ at Studio 54 and wrote some book about how everyone should be taking blue-green algae from some lake in southern Oregon. It was quite expensive, tons of capsules each day, and filled you full of stinky gas. Then I simultaneously did accupuncture, which was a bit more novel at the time IIRC, and I somehow hooked up with this hunky South African gay man who also had a medical degree, so with some fancy diagnosis coding it was billed to my insurance. Then there was all the tumeric, bitter melon nasty tea, CO Q10 and then some stuff imported from France and made from some specific strain of boxwood shrubs. There was one pharmacy in the East Village where they gay owner catered to the "alternative" downtown poz crowd, and my HIV doctor was part of all that he hooked me up (but didn't push any of it on me, it was all at my request).

Did any of it work or not? Well, of course, there's absolutely no way to tell when you're taking it with ARVs anyway, and when you're cycling though so many different therapies, etc. There was seemingly a new latest trend each year, and I did all of them even though personally I've never been a New Age/spiritual type. I definitely didn't rub crystals, chant and meditate any... drew the line at that nonsense.

I finally stopped all of that around 1998 and decided to spend the money on 3 am cocaine parties with supermodels, and saw no change up or down in my t-cells. I can tell you which is more fun though.

This thread brings back a lot of memories. I went to several classes on the healing powers of crystals. In fact, I still have my "special" crystal, somewhere in the recesses of my jewelry box....

We would try anything in those days. I also drank the kombuchu (sp?) tea..YUCK....we did visualization, guided imagery, Louise Hay, reiki, healing touch, you name it. In the healing touch group, I always tried to get next to the hot guy, so I could be the one to administer my 'touch therapy' to him. LOL I don't think I was the only one who had that idea....he was very popular.

I drove my cousin to the Atlanta quack to have his blood heated, but even that nut realized that my poor cousin was too far gone to attempt it. He weighed about 85, and his whole body was one big KS lesion.

I need to be reminded of those days more often, because they are slipping from my 'aging memory'....they teach me about how much I truly have to be thankful for today.

« Last Edit: November 27, 2009, 02:41:45 PM by AlanBama »

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"Remember my sentimental friend that a heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others." - The Wizard of Oz

To get back to "cybercondriacs".......I think the suggestion that drinking bottled water with gold in it would bring some benefit to the HIV positive individual was my last staw with the Nutrition forum. Bottled water, in general, is expensive and a needless expense. After all, you can get all you need out of the tap. If you need filtered water there are cheap filters. Thanks for letting me rant.

To get back to "cybercondriacs".......I think the suggestion that drinking bottled water with gold in it would bring some benefit to the HIV positive individual was my last staw with the Nutrition forum. Bottled water, in general, is expensive and a needless expense. After all, you can get all you need out of the tap. If you need filtered water there are cheap filters. Thanks for letting me rant.